Onesimus was Philemon’s slave who had either run away, or been given to Paul when he was in prison. Paul taught him, and Onesimus became a Christian. Now, Philemon wants him back.But Paul is clever. He isn’t forcing Philemon to set him free, but he’s making it pretty difficult for Philemon to keep him a slave. He point blank tells Philemon, “I am appealing to you for my child, Onesimus, whose father I have become…I am sending him, that is, my own heart, back to you.” Then he promises Philemon that “If he has wronged you in any way, or owes you anything, charge it to my account. I will repay it… And by the way, I’m not mentioning that you owe me even your own life.” He mentions several times, how he, Paul is also a slave, or a prisoner of Jesus, and also hits Philemon with the practical, “formerly, he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to both of us.”He addresses the letter, not just to Philemon, but also “to Apphia, our sister, to Archippis, our fellow soldier, and to the whole church that meets in your house.” There will be witnesses to whatever Philemon decides to do. Paul writes, “Brother, let me have this favor from you! Confident of your obedience, I know that you will do even more than I ask.” Finally, he mentions at the end of the letter “I’ll be visiting you shortly.” In other words, “I’ll be checking up on you.”Clever as this is, there is still a problem here. Although Paul was clearly on the side of Onesimus, asking Philemon to free him, he is still returning a runaway slave to his owner. He isn’t breaking Roman laws, or establishing an underground railway to free slaves. And Paul is one of the greatest saints in Christianity.In our American history, this letter was used by the South in support of slavery. There were other texts too, but this was one of the big ones. That’s pretty troubling. Here is one ‘Good Christian’ returning a slave to another ‘Good Christian’ slave owner. How do we make sense of that?Every person is surrounded by the values and practices of his or her culture, and it’s great when these line up with our faith values, but that doesn’t always happen.Here in America, we are celebrating a day of freedom, set aside to honor the common worker. We believe that work is a good thing, it contributes to the community and keeps us in food and clothing. We believe that all people are given great dignity, regardless of the kind of work they do. God wants each person to live a life of wholeness and share in the fullness of life, and that means each worker needs to be paid a living wage, and be treated with dignity. There are no exceptions to this. There are no exceptions to paying someone enough to live, and treating them with decency. There are no exceptions to the fact that each person is another, beloved child of God, like we heard in Psalm 139, “It was you who formed my innermost parts; you who knit me together in my mother’s womb.” God was talking about Onesimus here just as much as Philemon or Paul. God formed and valued Onesimus too, but no one looked at a slave as a person or a brother, let alone an equal.Do we see a person of equal value when we look at people who were in prison, immigrants, people who are disabled or developmentally delayed, or who suffer from mental illness? Do we see equals in people who don’t dress like us, look like us, or act like us? In our economy, some workers are very valuable, and some are barely thought of, if we think of them at all. But their abuse and exploitation are still there.As I was reading about this text, the author mentioned that she had awakened, dressed, eaten an orange, and had a cup of coffee. Living in Minnesota, we don’t see sweatshops where children, and people who are practically slaves, make many of our clothes. Other countries don’t pay decent wages, or ensure safe working conditions, or they encourage child labor. Many of you may remember the terrible fires a few years ago in a clothing factory, or sweatshop in Bangladesh that killed hundreds of people. Even when we buy clothing made in America, we don’t know if the pieces were made in other countries, as a way to save money, and just assembled here, unless we know it’s a reputable company. Oranges are picked by migrant farm workers, and migrant farm workers are among the most abused workers in the United States. They don’t have necessary safety standards, adequate housing, or fair pay. Coffee beans in tropical countries are grown by small farmers who are paid very little, and sell their crop to a local buyer, called a ‘coyote.’ Then it is sold through several middle men, each charging a profit, until bought by a multinational coffee company. Unless we buy fair trade coffee, (which is a lot more expensive), the original farmer is not getting anywhere near a fair price. In Immokalee, Florida, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, CIW tomato pickers has struggled for years to boost pay and improve working conditions in Florida fields. This is a coalition of tomato growers, pickers, and buyers. They ask tomato buyers to participate in the Fair Food Program. Over the last 15 years, all major fast food companies have joined them, including Taco Bell, McDonalds, Burger King, and Subway. All but Wendy’s. So this March, they called for a consumer boycott of Wendy.Like Paul, we can’t do everything. We all want a world where everything is fair and just for everyone. None of us want to wear clothes made by child laborers, and we don’t want to contribute to a system where migrant farm workers are exploited or work in unsafe conditions. None of us want to take advantage of poor workers around the world. But it is almost impossible to live here and not contribute in any way to much of this. We can’t stand apart from using some of these products. I used to like Wendy’s because they are very strong advocates for adoption, but now they’re not standing for the tomato workers. There aren’t clear boundaries. Sometimes, I can afford to buy organic and free trade and ‘Made in America,’ and sometimes, I can’t. What I did last month isn’t necessarily what I can do this month. But we Are called to deal with this, and we are part of the solution. We need to pay attention, be aware of what’s going on, and make changes where we can. We need to be like Paul, whose clever, but more importantly, he did what he could. He didn’t take on the whole Roman government. He knew what was going on, and he played a part in changing things around, but looking at the system, it was a pretty small part. He helped one man. As far as we know, he freed one man. But then, that’s where God comes in.“I’m forming you,” God says, “like the potter does the clay. Your life isn’t static, as a person, or as a nation. As people around the globe. You move one way, I form you another. You get too much off in one direction, and then I bring you back. I am responsive to every move you make, and I am forming you, as a person, and as a people.”Paul freed one man. And Paul would never have guessed that two thousand years later, slavery would be outlawed in most of the world. He freed one man, but he also contributed to a movement, Jesus’ movement, that eventually resulted in everyone seeing that slavery, any kind of slavery, is unjust, and definitely not part of God’s plan. God brought that along. God works with us, forming us, eventually, into people who live the life of the resurrection or the kingdom of God. It’s not up in heaven that God wants justice and a full life for all of God’s people, it’s right now. And that’s what God’s doing, right at this moment. And God is doing it with our help. Amen.